S6W-13881: Jamie Greene, West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 12/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) short-term lets sector and (b) hospitality sector about whether 12 months is an excessive amount of time for local authorities to process short-term lets applications, and whether there are plans to reduce this timescale.
Answered by Shona Robison: Our 2021 consultation included draft guidance explaining the rationale for licence application determination times. Licensing authorities only have 12 months to determine applications made by existing hosts (those operational before 1 October 2022) during the transitional period. This is to support licensing authorities to manage the initial volume of applications they receive. During this transitional period, existing hosts are able to continue operating whilst their application is being determined.
For new hosts (those commencing operation on or after 1 October 2022), the usual 9 month determination time set out in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 applies. We understand many local authorities are prioritising these applications to provide new hosts with a timely outcome. We have no plans to alter either timescale, however, as we have already indicated, we will conduct a review of the scheme in early 2024.
S6W-13880: Jamie Greene, West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 12/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff in each local authority are working on processing short-term lets licensing and applications.
Answered by Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 requires local authorities to establish and run licensing schemes for short-term lets in their areas. Information on staffing levels dedicated to short-term let licensing within each local authority will be held by individual local authorities, and vary based on a number of factors, including volume of activity and approach to physical property inspections.
S6W-13878: Jamie Greene, West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 12/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications local authorities have received for short-term lets licences, and how many have been (a) approved and (b) rejected.
Answered by Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12707 on 12 December 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers